This puzzles me.

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performer
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This puzzles me.

Postby performer » September 29th, 2015, 8:24 am

I am referring to a videoclip which I am going to post presently. It is of a controversial figure in the sceptic movement. His name is Mark Edward who apparently has had a lot of success as a psychic consultant while at the same time being a leading figure in the sceptic movement! That is puzzling in itself but is not what I am presently puzzled about.

I understand that the sceptics don't like him because he is a psychic and the psychics don't like him because he is a sceptic. Jamy Ian Swiss railed against him on a sceptic conference panel which of course amused me greatly as I am always delighted to see civil war among sceptics.

He has written a well regarded book claiming that the reason he did psychic readings was to "infiltrate" the world of the psychic and find out how it was all done. Of course that is a load of old cobblers. I suppose I have "infiltrated" the psychic world too and I haven't found out a bloody thing. All the psychics I know seem to believe in it. Whether they actually do or not I have no idea. On balance I think they do.

But this isn't what puzzles me anyway. It is this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cHl81nArng

I can't figure out whether it is a joke or not. It is supposed to be a free reading for someone or other but maybe it is a reading for everyone on the internet. I suspect I will have to grovel to the sceptics that know him. What is the video supposed to be about? It is such a miserable reading full of gloom and doom that I can't believe it is for real. Is it supposed to be a joke? Or is it a genuine attempt to do a real reading?

Is it supposed to make a sceptical point? Or is it supposed to be a real reading? I just can't figure it out. What do you all think? I expect the sceptics like Widdle might have the answer. It is beyond even my wondrous psychic ability. Someone commented underneath that it might have been the whiskey he was drinking talking. I have no idea.

Anyway, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cHl81nArng

MagicbyAlfred
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Re: This puzzles me.

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 29th, 2015, 12:06 pm

Performer, the video in question strikes me as being that of a drunk individual who is making fun of Tarot reading. In no way, is he attempting to read the cards for any particular individual, or for people on the Internet at large. It is patently a parody, laden with sarcasm, meant to belittle Tarot reading. That's it. This individual wrote a book, as you pointed out, in an attempt to debunk psychics. Without attempting here to stake out a position as either a sceptic or believer, it is the background leading up to the book that I find interesting. In the interview you can access through the link below, he is being interviewed by a talk radio host, and he admits that he became part of the Psychic Friends Network in order to infiltrate the world of psychics, posing as one of them to gain information in support of his position that they are all perpetrators of fraud. Yet, when the host asks him about some specifics he learned to support his theory of fraud, he says, You'll have to buy my book to find out. (paraphrased but very close to his response). So what we know about this individual is that he perpetrated a fraud on both those who worked on the Psychic Friends Network and the people who subscribed to the service, presumably collecting compensation in the process, and then went ahead and wrote a book, at least in significant part for profit, based on the information he admits having fraudulently obtained from those allegedly perpetrating a fraud. Here's the link I mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7knkBobAm0

Leo Garet
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Re: This puzzles me.

Postby Leo Garet » September 29th, 2015, 1:00 pm

I’m guessing the “well-regarded” book is “Psychic Blues Confessions Of A Conflicted Medium”. I thought and still think it’s risible.

As for the video clip, well I have no idea what's going on. But then that's my default mode, so nothing new there.

performer
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Re: This puzzles me.

Postby performer » September 29th, 2015, 1:16 pm

Then if that really is a parody it is a very irresponsible one. It should be deleted immediately. If I cannot figure out what is going on and I am in the psychic business then God alone knows what a vulnerable person will think of it. He or she may think it is directed at him or her personally. Some of you may think this is unlikely but as a very experienced person in this kind of work I can assure you that I know differently. It can do a great deal of harm.

I have always said that if you are in the psychic business you are walking an ethical tightrope and should not fall off. That applies to sceptics as well as psychic readers. That is a very dangerous video and should be taken down immediately.

MagicbyAlfred
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Re: This puzzles me.

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 29th, 2015, 1:24 pm

Mark, I think you are correct in saying that various people who see the video will believe it is directed toward them, and will believe the content (just look at some of the comments), and the things he is saying on there are mean-spirited and horrible. Perhaps a more appropriate word than "parody" would have been "mockery."

performer
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Re: This puzzles me.

Postby performer » September 29th, 2015, 1:49 pm

I have now had a chance to look at the video that Alfred posted. It seems that Mr Edwards has been doing readings for a very long time before he allegedly "saw the light" and it seems he is still doing readings. I cannot accept the twaddle that he did readings in order to "infiltrate" the psychics and find out what fraud they got up to. It did not go unnoticed that when asked if any psychics admitted any shenanigans to him he waffled around it but my translation of the waffle was "not really"

Of course not. I know dozens upon dozens of psychics personally. Not a single one has ever admitted fraud to me and in fact they are very disapproving of it. And they are often disapproving of "Psychic Friends Network" and other psychic phone lines and consider them fraudulent because of the massive phone bills they run up for vulnerable people. Besides the psychics themselves often get scammed by the people that run the phone lines. Many psychics are naive, sincere people who are not blessed with my wicked background and are easily scammed themselves. A lot of these phone lines go bankrupt and the psychics never get paid!

And they tend to get paid a pittance anyway when they do get paid. To go off at a tangent I had a phone line myself in Ireland but it was voice activated rather than live and I wasn't actually there to do the reading. They did listen to my beautiful recorded voice and I considered that alone to be a wonderful privilege for them and worth the money. I used to get royalties sent over to me in Canada but alas that all came to an end when the company was ultimately sold for a million pounds. The clients were not really scammed as they could only be on the line for a limited time anyway. I don't suppose a single person listened for more than 5 minutes and I think about two or three minutes was the average.

But back to Mark Edward. I regard the waffle about "infiltrating" to be a load of crap possibly to help sell his book and justify his great wickedness. He was NOT infiltrating-he was trying to make money and scepticism was far from his mind. I am psychic and know these things after all.

You are either a psychic or a sceptic. You can't be both.

Jonathan Townsend
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Re: This puzzles me.

Postby Jonathan Townsend » September 29th, 2015, 2:09 pm

performer wrote:... either a psychic or a sceptic. You can't be both.


How could anyone else know if all that measuring stuff is just a way to delay until your ninth sense informs your opinion? A pipe gives a wise man time to think and all that.

:? Consider the honest closed-eye whose informed choices are statistically no better than chance.
Last edited by Jonathan Townsend on September 29th, 2015, 2:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

performer
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Re: This puzzles me.

Postby performer » September 29th, 2015, 2:17 pm

Jonathan Townsend wrote:
performer wrote:... either a psychic or a sceptic. You can't be both.


How could anyone else know if all that measuring stuff is just a way to delay until your ninth sense informs your opinion? A pipe gives a wise man time to think and all that.


In the same way they would know what you are trying to say. I think Jonathon should take up psychic reading. He would be on very sound ground ethically and would do no harm whatsoever since nobody would know what the hell he was talking about.


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